Nigeria, officially known as the Republic of Nigeria, is a lovely country in North East Africa. They have a unique culture and their food is definitely much different from what is commonly eaten throughout the rest of the world. Nigerian food culture might be simplistic in nature but it is unique in it’s own right.

Below we are going to discuss some food dishes from various regions of Nigeria.

Igbo Food

The Igno people hail from the eastern portion of Nigeria. Their food consists primarily of various legumes, vegetables, and yams, although of course, when available, meat is often eaten as well. The yams are eaten a variety of ways, including boiled and pounded into soup. Soups are an integral part of Igno food culture.

Some of Igbo’s most popular dishes are listed below:

  • Pounded yam with bitter-leaf soup has a very unique flavor which seems to appeal with the Eastern tourist audience. The ingredients include bitter leaf, seasoning, pepper, oil, ogiri, maggi, and several types of fish.
  • Pounded yam with egusi soup is a richer, more complex soup. Ingredients including multiple types of fish, egusi seed, spinach, palm oil, pepper, salt, seasoning, and ogiri.
  • Nkwobi might be considered strange to Westerners but proves to be a popular dish in Igbo. It is usually made from cow foot, but other meats are sometimes used as well. Other ingredients include knorr, utazi, potash, palm oil, ugba, scotch bonnet peppers, onions, ehu (calabash nutmeg), and salt. This dish is said to go quite well with a chilled African wine.
  • Abacha is a Nigerian take on salad. Ingredients include cassava, palm oil, onions, ugba, crayfish, utazi, pepper, and dried fish.

Yoruba Food

The Yoruba people have an interesting food culture as well. Although not to dissimilar to Igbo food, there is a key distinction in that Yoruba food is often intensely colorful in comparison to surrounding regions. Yoruba food is very symbolic of Nigerian food culture.

  • Gbegiri soup is made from beans, dried fish, pepper, crayfish, seasoning cubes, salt and palm oil. It is a very easy to make and is staple in the region.
  • Efo riro is a healthy rendition of the typical Yoruba soup. Ingredients include spinach vegetables, crayfish, stockfish, pepper, locust bean, meat, and palm oil.
  • Amala and Ewedu soup is another staple for many of the Yoruba people. This particular soup is made from ewedu leaves, iru, crayfish, pepper, and salt.
  • Moimoi is a commonly eaten soup made from ground beans, pepper, salt, egg, and fish. This is a relatively simple dish with immense health benefit and is quite filling as well.

Hausa Food

The Hausa people hail from the northern region of the country. Key differences in their food include the use of different grains such as millet. They also often use ingredients which are harder to find in other regions such as sugar and beef since the area is historically a farming region, rather than nomadic like some other regions of Nigeria.

1. Tuwo Shinkafa is a popular food in northern Nigeria. It consists of parboiled rice and water. The ending result is a thick pudding which is served with various soups.

2. Masa is the Hausa take on rice cakes and is often eaten with soup. This dish consists of fermented rice, yeast, sugar, and flour.

3. Dambu Nama is a shredded meat dish. This dish is usually eaten as a snack, or as part of a full meal when paired with rice. Ingredients typically include beef, pepper, salt, sugar, groundnut oil and onions and seasoning cubes.